Bahrain Mirror: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Monday (December 21, 2015) revised its outlook on Bahrain-based Mumtalakat Holding Co. (Mumtalakat) to negative from stable. At the same time, S&P affirmed their 'BBB/A-2' long- and short-term foreign and local currency issuer credit ratings on Mumtalakat.

"The ratings on Mumtalakat are based on equalization with the ratings on the Kingdom of Bahrain (BBB/Negative/A-2)," S&P stressed, reflecting its opinion that there is an "almost certain" likelihood that the government of Bahrain would provide timely and sufficient extraordinary support to Mumtalakat in the event of financial distress, though it noted that the government does not formally guarantee Mumtalakat's financial liabilities.

"Mumtalakat is the investment company for Bahrain's strategic assets in sectors other than oil and gas. Wholly owned by Bahrain, Mumtalakat held stakes in 36 commercial enterprises that represented a portfolio of approximately Bahraini dinar 2.7 billion ($7.2 billion) as of June 30, 2014, across a variety of sectors, including aluminum production, financial services, telecommunications, real estate, tourism, transportation, and food production," S&P added.

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